Traditionally, coconut oil is extracted from copra by crushing in an expeller, followed by solvent extraction to recover the residual oil from the cake.
The oil content ranges from 34 to 45 % in the ripe endosperm of coconut and from 60 to 77 per cent in well dried copra.
The oil content is influenced by the water content in the nut, stage of maturity and the type of coconut variety.
The oil contains predominantly triglycerides with 86.5% saturated fatty acids. This makes the crude oil very stable against oxidation. They consist of C12, C14 and C16 with C12 predominating.
Others are 5.8% monounsaturated fatty acids, and 1.8% polyunsaturated fatty acids.
Of the saturated fatty acids, coconut oil is primarily 44.6% lauric acid, 16.8% myristic acid and 8.2% palmitic acid, although it contains seven different saturated fatty acids in total. Its only monounsaturated fatty acid is oleic acid while its only polyunsaturated fatty acid is linoleic acid.
Coconut oil is composed of a special group of fat molecules known as medium chain fatty acids (MCFA) which contains 8 to 12 carbon chains. The sum of MFCA in coconut oil is 62%, which makes the oil the richest source of MCFA among vegetable oil.
Medium –chain fatty acids in coconut oil are broken down and used predominantly for energy production and thus seldom end up as body fat or as deposit in arteries or anywhere else.
Chemical properties of coconut oil
